- Dan Pepperell, Andy Tyson and Mikey Clift have opened Neptune’s Grotto beneath their NYC chophouse, Clam Bar.
- Northern Italian dishes are the focus along with hearty handmade pastas and a regional wine list.
- It’s one of the last major openings of the year with a few new venues yet to come in December.
The dependable team behind Clam Bar, Bistrot 916, and Taylor Swift’s favourite Italian restaurant, Pellegrino 2000, has just given birth to a new spot with the opening of Neptune’s Grotto in Sydney CBD.
Located beneath the Circular Quay-adjacent Clam Bar—the group’s indulgent New York chophouse—Neptune’s Grotto is one of the last major openings in a year that’s completely transformed what Sydney’s dining scene looks like.
Owners Dan Pepperell, Andy Tyson and Mikey Clift pitch their new baby as a “love letter to the quiet luxury of northern Italian cooking and hospitality,” focused on the bountiful Emilia-Romagna region with dishes like cotoletta alla panna (a creamy veal cutlet dish made famous in Bologna and the under-appreciated cousin of Milan’s cotoletta alla Milanese) and light handmade pastas coupled with a show-stopping line-up of Champagnes, vintage barolo and other wines from Northern Italy.
The hospitality hotshots have carved out an underground space below Clam Bar, burrowing into the standstone facade with the same design language that makes the upstairs chophouse feel like Midtown Manhattan. Booths, a sleek marble bar, dim mood lighting and an understated elegance define the scene, while the air is filled with the smell of freshly stuffed tortellini and texturally complex crumbed veal.
Pepperell and Clift have built up plenty of good grace across Sydney’s best kitchens while Tyson’s wine lists are famously exacting and tailored to the ambiance. It should be no surprise to see Neptune’s Grotto become one of Sydney’s hottest reservations over the upcoming holiday period, right alongside other new openings like Joji and The International.
Neptune’s Grotto
Address: Young Street &, Bridge St, Sydney NSW
Contact: (02) 9167 6667
Opening Hours: Monday – Thursday (12pm – 11pm); Friday – Saturday (12pm – 12am)
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